How to communicate your strategic plan effectively to the company.

1. Strategic Planning: Communication
Strategic Planning: Part V
Communication
After finishing parts I through IV of the series, we have successfully prepared the perfect
strategic plan. And while it was not an easy task, it is typically not the hardest part of the process.
That aspect would be effectively communicating the plan to the rest of the company and -- more
challenging still -- generating support and enthusiasm for it. If we can't hurdle these last two
obstacles, our days and weeks of hard work creating a plan may well be for naught.
The company's success in designing and implementing a plan to meet its long-term objectives
will hinge on the ability of executives to communicate those goals effectively to the rest of the
staff. If people don’t understand where you are trying to lead them, you’ll never get there.
Of course, everyone knows that the best way to communicate is by sending out an email to all
senior managers telling them how great the new strategic plan is and attaching a copy that is over
100 pages without a summary. It's obvious that every manager will read it in great detail and

2. immediately understand every word as intended. Then, without being told, they will turn to their
people and fire them up, rallying all to the cause.
Not!
If this is your idea of communicating with your company staff, then you should continue reading.
From the Beginning
After we redesign the strategic planning process, we need to craft an effective communication
program. Notice, that this should be done before the strategic planning process begins. The
program should consider keeping key groups in the company apprised of your planning progress
and solicit their input where and when appropriate. Buy-in is key to any process where you need
to seek others' full support later. We should know these critical points in the strategic process
before we sit down to begin planning. Then, again after the planning, we will need to schedule
communication that clearly conveys our plan and how we expect to achieve the goals.
Afterward
The order and timing of the communication is also important. We don't want to inadvertently
offend those we need most to execute the plan, yet, neither do we want to leave out others who
could later undermine our efforts. Therefore, it is likely that we will begin by informing our
senior managers - perhaps by calling a meeting or virtual meeting -- and providing a salient
summary. This is the group that will be crucial to ensuring the tasks and programs are completed
on time during the year.
However, there may be other influencers within the company who are also important and without
their support, regardless of what their title is, the plan may be headed for rougher waters. As each
situation is different, it will be important for the senior manager who oversees a key employee to
identify the best course to inform and involve them. Of course, it may not be necessary to convey

3. all planning information to these individuals; however, information relevant to them and goals
which may be affected by them should be considered.
Modes of Communication
Any communication program must consider the audience. Likely, it will be a mix of generations,
so we'll need to accommodate that. For example:
·Baby boomers: This group of 50+ year-olds (* as of this writing) prefers to get updates via
email and, possibly, Facebook. Preparing a corporate memorandum for this group might be the
most effective way to communicate with them. Perhaps you have some that would even like to
see it on paper, no less!
·Gen X: These employees are in the 35-49 year group. They too are wedded to emails, but they
will view Skype and YouTube types of messaging as well. They are also big text users.
·Gen Y (Millennials): Millennials are the 20-34 year crowd and are not big users of email. They
are more likely to use Yammer, Chatter or Slack, which allow for collaborative messaging across
functions. These are social platforms that can be used within a corporate office setting.
·Gen Z: The under-20 group. This group does the most instant messaging. Telegram or
WhatsApp let them see who’s online and who isn’t. Apps that facilitate this type of
communication will be most effective for them.
As we can see, one size no longer fits all. Will we reach most people in the organization using
traditional means? Yes. But how effective will it be? How understandable will the message be?
And, how enthusiastic will the audience be in getting the message in that format? Even if we do
get them to open an email, we can't be guaranteed they will really read it. In the current age,
attention spans have also shortened, so anything we write in a communique that is more than half
a page long will likely not be read. Pictures and graphs can also help. But the most effective

4. method of communication may involve video rather than a static image or a stodgy-looking MS
Word document.
If videos are not palatable or practical, go back to using pictures but ensure they portray the
message quickly and succinctly. Coupled with a tagline, pictures can often get the same point
across more effectively and with less confusion than with pages or paragraphs of narrative.
To ensure a consistent message is sent to everyone, consider videotaping short, informative
meetings and putting those on the company's internal network or Intranet. Of course, we will
need to inform everyone of the tapes too and when/where to go to view them.
Messaging Doesn’t Stop
Even after we finish the initial steps of communicating the plan to the company staff, our
messaging shouldn't stop. Many companies are now mounting inexpensive LED TVs in key
places throughout their buildings to communicate continuously to their employees what’s going
on in their company’s world and how different metrics are being achieved. This is a great place
to include a chart or other image of how you are making progress on your strategic plan goals.
And what about answering questions employees may have?
It’s cliché to say “we just have a simple open-door policy here.” All companies say that, but not
all walk-the-walk. Managers should be provided the information they need to answer questions
that come up by their staff. A good way to address this is by crafting a FAQ sheet for them,
highlighting questions we may anticipate the staff asking. When managers don’t have the
answers to questions, they should feel comfortable going to their manager or someone in the
strategic planning group to get them.
If you have any questions regarding the strategic planning process, please contact me at:
cofoidg@gmail.com, and I will try to help. Best of luck!

5. *****
© Copyright 2018. Blue M Publishing.